Drop-on-demand ink jet technology is widely used in the printing industry. Printers using drop-on-demand ink jet technology can include the use of a printhead that ejects an ink from a plurality of nozzles in a nozzle plate (i.e., aperture plate). Various ejection technologies may be used to eject ink droplets from the plurality of nozzles including, for example, thermal ejection, electrostatic ejection, or piezoelectric ejection.
The manufacture and storage of printheads and ink can generate an amount of debris and contamination within the printhead and ink that can block ink channels within the printhead and the nozzles in the nozzle plate. These blockages can result in poor printer performance and lead to replacement of the printhead. To reduce or prevent blockage of the ink channels and nozzles, the printhead is manufactured to include a particulate filter or “rock screen.” The particulate filter is a layer within an interior of the printhead that includes a plurality of holes that are smaller than the anticipated size of the contamination. The particulate filter is typically manufactured as part of a printhead manifold, where the printhead manifold incorporates a plurality of laminated layers including the particulate filter layer. Thus, the particulate filter is built well within the printhead interior. The ink enters a printhead ink inlet from an ink reservoir where it is routed through the ink channels in the upper manifold, through the particulate filter, through the ink channels in the lower manifold, and then ejected from the nozzles in the nozzle plate during printing. The particulate filter is designed to last the lifetime of the printhead.
A particulate filter for an ink jet printhead that has advantages over a conventional particulate filter would be desirable.